Why New Orleans Saints Football Is Extremely Bad For My Health

I know it's just a game. There are more important things to worry about in life than the game of football. That's a hard statement to make when you are a diehard fan of the New Orleans Saints.

I've been a Saints fan all of my life, well since I was old enough to actually understand the game. I remember the Jim Mora days and those 4 playoff appearances which ended in disappointment. I remember the hellish late 90's with Mike Ditka as a coach and the countless number of quarterbacks named Billy Joe. Don't even get me started on Ricky Williams. Then came the Jim Haslett era. This is when my health started to decline from unnecessary stress. Why did my health start to go downhill? It's because the Saints were starting to win.

That first year under Haslett was a great year. Jeff Blake was our quarterback and won some big ball games. Then he gets hurt. That is when the Aaron Brooks era began. When he started, the only thing he was known for was being Mike Vick's second cousin. But, he continued to win ball games. Brooks and Haslett led the Saints to the playoffs and their first playoff win by defeating the defending Super Bowl champs, the St. Louis Rams.

When your team starts to win, that's all you expect to happen after that. The next 5 seasons were of course disastrous. My stress levels continued to rise. It almost got to the point where I just didn't care anymore.

Enter Sean Payton and Drew Brees. The 2006 season was a phenomenal season. From the first game back in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina with Steve Gleason's blocked punt against the Atlanta Falcons, to the NFC South Division title. But, the stress was still there because they were winning and anything bad that would happen would make me ridiculously upset!

The '07 and '08 seasons drove me insane because even though the Saints had that prolific offense, they couldn't win ball games because of a lack of defense. The 2009 season was probably the most stressful season of all. You are probably saying "Why?". That is because they were winning again. They won their first 13 games. It was almost miraculous. Some people can probably relate to me about my stress levels during Saints games. So, you can only imagine how I was during the playoffs until the Super Bowl.

So, the New Orleans Saints win their first World Championship, something that I prayed that I would live to see one day. My prayers, and many others prayers were answered as well. With every championship winning team, the expectations get higher. With me, expectations and stress get higher.

Four seasons later, the stress is still there. The Saints had winning seasons every year except the 2012 season, when Sean Payton was suspended for the 'Bountygate' scandal. There was also the 2011 playoff game in Seattle which included the "Beast Quake" and the San Francisco game in which the 49ers scored the last minute touchdown to send them to the NFC Championship game.

Why am I telling you this? Well, due to the fact that the rematch against the Seattle Seahawks tomorrow night will be the biggest game the Saints will have in a long time. My stress levels for that Monday night game a month ago were probably as high as the decibel level at CenturyLink Field.

In closing, don't let this game stress you out. Stress is the silent killer and I will probably have to double my high blood pressure dosage tomorrow. But, regardless if they win or not, I will still remain to be a die hard Who Dat!

GEAUX SAINTS! WHO DAT!